Camp Kids

Camp Kids

Camping with kids can be very rewarding. Find ideas about teaching children to love and respect the outdoors and camping. Find ways to keep the kids busy on the way to cam, plus games and other fun ideas to keep kids stimulated and engaged while at camp. Keep kids safe outdoors and teach them wilderness skills. Find more great ideas for camping with kids of all ages. Visit KidsCamping.com

Car Games - Miles of Entertainment on the Road

Are you tired of being asked “are we there yet?” Take the pain out of road trips with these fun, portable kids games. If you want, put a local spin on any of these by using landmarks, cities, and billboard signs you see along the way for inspiration.

My Aunt AliceYou probably played this classic game yourself when you were a kid. This is a memory game that works well in the car and is great for elementary and middle-school aged kids. One kid starts it out by saying, “I went on a trip with my aunt Alice and I took along a ____.” They fill in the blank with something that starts with the letter A, such as an aardvark. The next kid repeats this sentence and adds their own addition to the suitcase, something that starts with the letter B. “I went on a trip with my aunt Alice and I took along an aardvark and a badminton set.” The third adds something that starts with a C. “I went on a trip with my aunt Alice and I took along an aardvark, a badminton set, and a cupcake.” Continue on for as long as you can or until you reach the end of the alphabet.

Word AssociationThis game is best—and silliest—when you move quickly, spitting out the first thing that comes into your head. The first person starts with a word, something like “river.” The next person says the first thing they think of, say “flow.” And the next “go.” And the next “stop,” and so on.

Who am I?This is a guessing game for older kids (or adults). One person, the “lead,” starts by thinking of the name of a person, either real or fictional, dead or alive—but with a first and last name, such as Nancy Drew. They announce to the group “my first name starts with N.” The group gets busy thinking of famous people whose last names start with N, like Napoleon Bonaparte, Nora Roberts, Nicholas Cage, Nancy Reagan—but they keep these names to themselves.

The person who thought of Napoleon then comes up with a question that fits Napoleons life, something like “Did you try to conquer Europe?” If the lead can think of the person they have in mind—or any famous person for whom the answer to the question is yes—they can answer “No, I’m not Napoleon.” They’ve managed to defend their person’s identity for the moment and someone else take a turn. If they can’t think of anyone who fits the question, then the person who asked it gets to ask one question about their person (Nancy Drew), something like “are you living?” “Are you fictional?” “Are you a woman,” etc.

If the lead successfully defends themselves, someone else can take a turn. For instance, the person who thought of Nicholas Cage might try to think of the most obscure fact they know about the actor, in order to stump the lead. So instead of asking “Are you a famous actor?” they might say, “Were you in Raising Arizona?” If the lead can’t answer, they get to ask a pointed question about the lead’s name.

Because this game takes a lot of thought and planning, it isn’t necessary that the group go in order. If one person has a lot of questions ready to ask and no one else has any, go ahead and let the person ask, since this keeps the game moving forward. This is a fun game to play with mixed generations, since some will know all about Harry Potter while others are well versed in the lives of Mickey Mantle and Doris Day.

Looking for more information and other great articles about camping with kids? KidsCamping.com has a wide variety of articles, activities, games and learning tools to inspire kids of all ages to love camping and the outdoors